What Do Hamsters Eat?

The short answer:

While hamsters will eat almost anything, they should be fed a diet of pellets that is marginally supplemented with cereals, grains, fruits, vegetables, and meats.

What Are Hamsters?

Hamsters are rodents
which are mammals from the order Rodentia. This order is the largest order of mammals (warm-blooded animals with hair
or fur that have backbones and whose females produce milk) and includes mice,
rats, gerbils, chipmunks, squirrels, and chinchillas.

There are many types of hamsters, but the one that is most commonly kept as a pet is the Syrian hamster (also known as a golden hamster or teddy bear hamster).

The second most commonly kept pet hamster is the dwarf
hamster which has three species: the Campbell’s dwarf hamster, the winter white
dwarf hamster, and the Roborovski dwarf hamster (also known as a Robo dwarf
hamster).

Hamsters are well-known for their small, furry bodies and
adorable cheeks, and are often one of the first pet choices for children.
Although, many adults love having hamsters as well!

Hamsters can live anywhere from 2-8 years in captivity
(although 2-4 years is the average) and range in size from 13 inches (the
European hamster) to 2 inches (the dwarf hamster). Syrian hamsters are
typically around 5-7 inches long.

What Do Hamsters Eat?

Contrary to popular belief, hamsters are not herbivores who only eat plants. Instead,
they are omnivores which means they
eat both plants and meat.

Hamsters are also foragers
which means that they travel to look for their food. In the wild, hamsters will
eat almost anything they come across which includes a variety of seeds, grains,
cereals, grasses, vegetables, fruits, and meats.

Fun Fact:
Hamsters in the wild have even been known to hunt in packs to bring down insects,
small lizards, or even frogs!

Thankfully, your pet hamster doesn’t have to do all that.

Instead, you can provide a perfectly balanced diet by
feeding your hamster commercial hamster pet food. There are two main types of commercial
hamster food: muesli and pellet.

Muesli pet food typically contains a loose mixture of seeds,
nuts, cereals, grains, and vegetables, and pellet pet food typically contains
the same but is in a combined hardened form. Pellets are also sometimes called rodent blocks.

Even though they seem
similar, pellets are often recommended over muesli pet foods.

This is because hamsters will often pick out and eat only
what they want when given muesli-style food (often the high-fat seeds that they
love). This can lead to a nutrient deficiency, so pellets are a way to avoid this
problem.

Also, it’s important to choose the least colored variety of
pet food, because the extremely colorful varieties are often full of chemicals
and additives that are not good for hamsters’ digestion.

How Do Hamsters Get Their Food?

As mentioned previously, hamsters forage for their food.

Hamsters also practice food caching (also known as hoarding) which is where they hide their food to prevent competitors from eating it.

Fun Fact: The
word hamster comes from the German word hamstern
which means “to hoard.”

Even though your pet hamster (hopefully) has no predators at
your house, they will still engage in this behavior and often hid their food
under their bedding. Hamsters can become very stressed if not given enough
hiding places so always provide several options for them!

Hamsters gather their food into their cheek pouches which are pockets just behind their front teeth that can
stretch behind their shoulders. They can store quite a lot in these pouches,
and then hide their food to eat later at their convenience.

As for how they eat, hamsters have very strong teeth that
never stop growing. They are born with 16 teeth which they keep for their whole
life and never replace.

Since their teeth grow continuously, it’s important to
provide your hamster with lots of chew toys such as wooden logs or blocks.
Otherwise, they will start to chew on their cage and food containers.

Also, be aware that hamsters also practice coprophagy which is just a fancy term
that means they eat their own feces so that they can recover more nutrients!

What Do Baby Hamsters (Pups) Eat?

Baby hamsters are called pups
and have a slightly different diet than adult hamsters do.

As many a surprised hamster owner has found out, hamsters
are very good at breeding! If you keep a male and female hamster together, you
will probably end up with pups.

Fun Fact: A male hamster is called a boar, and a female
hamster is called a sow.

Hamsters typically breed in the spring and summer, and
female hamsters can produce several litters a year. The average litter size is around
seven pups.

A female hamster’s gestation period is only 15-20 days, and
when born, pups are blind and cannot open their eyes until they are around two
weeks old (but hey they already have their 16 teeth!).

Since they are mammals, pups drink their mother’s milk.
After about 3-4 weeks they start to be weaned onto solid food. Hamsters can be
weaned with soft food first (such as bread or cooked vegetables), and then they
can slowly progress onto pellet food.

If the pups are having difficulty with pellets, you can
always soften them with water to help them be able to eat and digest them.

What Do Adult Hamsters Eat?

As mentioned before, adult hamsters will eat almost anything
but should be fed a diet of pellets.

This diet should also be marginally supplemented with
cereals, grains, fruits, vegetables, and meats, and these foods should make up
no more than 10% of your hamsters’ diet and should be rotated.

For example, one time give your hamster meat and vegetables
and another time you give your hamster fruits and cereals.

An average portion
size for these other foods is one small cube about the size of two raisins.

It is incredibly important to portion control your hamster’s
food because hamsters (especially dwarf hamsters) are prone to obesity and
diabetes. When given the opportunity they will almost always overeat, so it’s
your job to monitor their food for them!

The average portion of
dried pellet food is one tablespoon per hamster.

This, of course, depends on your hamster’s age and size, so
always follow the instructions on the food bag or ask your veterinarian for
instructions.

Fun Fact: Even
though they are different sizes, Syrian and dwarf hamsters eat almost the same
amount of food because dwarf hamsters have a higher metabolism.

Also, some foods are bad for hamsters such as citrus fruits,
onions, eggplants, or chocolate. Many (but not all) seeds, skins, and pits are
also bad for them, so when in doubt, remove these.

Always wash any fruits
and vegetables to remove pesticides and cut them up to help prevent choking.

Hamster Food Options

Here are some hamster food options that are broken down by
category:

Fruits

Apples (remove seeds)

Bananas

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cantaloupes

Cherries (remove pits)

Cranberries

Grapes (seedless)

Mangos

Peaches (remove stone)

Pears

Plums (remove pits)

Raspberries (raspberry leaves can help with diarrhea in
hamsters)

Strawberries

Meats/Proteins

Beef (cooked)

Chicken (cooked)

Crickets

Grasshoppers

Hardboiled eggs (can also be scrambled)

Meal Worms

Turkey (cooked)

Vegetables

Asparagus

Bean Sprouts

Bok Choy

Broccoli

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery (remove strings to prevent choking)

Chard

Cucumbers

Kale

Okra

Parsnips

Peas

Radicchios

Romaine Lettuce

Spinach

Squash

Sweet Potatoes (remove the skin)

Turnips

Zucchini

DO NOT Feed Hamsters

Acorns

Almonds

Chocolate

Citrus Fruits

Eggplant

Garlic

Onions

Peanuts

Raw Kidney Beans

Raw Potatoes

Tomatoes

Watermelons

How Often Should You Feed Hamsters?

Since hamsters are crepuscular
(which means they are most active during twilight hours), they will often eat
at dawn or dusk.

However, they do often wake up during the day to snack and can eat at almost any time. Many people feed their hamsters either twice a day or once a day.

More important than how often you feed your hamster is
consistency with whatever schedule you choose. Hamsters naturally want to have
a lot of food available, and inconsistent feeding will make them overeat.

Also, never leave uneaten fruits, vegetables, or meat for
over 24 hours because they will start to rot, which can cause stomach problems
for your hamster.

Hamsters should be provided with clean water daily in either
a bowl or water bottle (or both), and these should be cleaned weekly. If your
tap water is high in chlorine, it is best to give your hamster filtered water.

Summary of What Do Hamsters Eat

While hamsters will
eat almost anything, they should be fed a diet of pellets that is marginally
supplemented with cereals, grains, fruits, vegetables, and meats.

Hamsters are omnivores
(they eat both plants and meat) that forage
(they travel for their food).

You should feed hamsters pellet food over muesli food so
that they have a more nutritionally balanced diet.

Hamsters also practice food caching (also known as hoarding), so it’s important to provide your hamster with plenty of hiding places to store food. They do this by putting food in their cheek pouches (which are pockets just behind their front teeth that can stretch behind their shoulders) and then storing the food when they find an appropriate spot.

Baby hamsters are called pups,
and they drink their mother’s milk until they are about 3-4 weeks old. Then
they can start to be weaned onto solid food such as bread or cooked vegetables.
Eventually, they will eat pellet food like adult hamsters do.

Additional foods (that are not pellets) like cereals,
grains, fruits, vegetables, and meats should make up no more than 10% of your
hamster’s diet and should be rotated.

An average portion
size for these other foods is one small cube about the size of two raisins, and
the average portion of dried pellet food is one tablespoon per hamster.

You should always wash fruits and vegetables to remove
pesticides and cut them up to prevent choking.

Also, some foods are bad for hamsters such as citrus fruits,
onions, eggplants, or chocolate. Many (but not all) seeds, skins, and pits are
also bad for them, so when in doubt, remove these.

Since hamsters are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk),
they will often eat during these times. However, you can choose to feed your
hamster at any time if you are consistent with their schedule.

Never leave uneaten food for over 24 hours because it will
rot, and always provide fresh water daily for your hamster.